The popular Good Sam Trip Planner will no longer be available as of April 10, 2019. Luckily, there are still some very useful resources for RV trip planning that will help you map out your travels, find campgrounds and more.
1. RV LIFE Trip Wizard
The best trip planning tool made specifically for RVers is RV LIFE Trip Wizard. This planner shows all of the campgrounds and RV parks along your route, with integrated reviews and information from RV LIFE Campgrounds. It also calculates a safe route based on your rig’s exact measurements, so you know when to avoid low clearance bridges.
The campgrounds can easily be filtered by price, amenities, or features. Users can click on a campground to learn more about the amenities, some also have photos available.
Road trip from Seattle to San Francisco, planned on RV LIFE Trip Wizard
You can also search for points of interest including rest areas, fuel stations, overnight parking, dump stations, as well as places like casinos with campgrounds and Walmarts. The points of interest can include attractions like amusement parks, museums, ATMs, laundromats, liquor stores, dentists, pharmacies, etc.
Unlike other trip planners, RV LIFE Trip Wizard shows all campground affiliations. You can also rank the memberships in your account preferences based on what affiliation (i.e. Passport America, KOA) will save you the most money.
RV LIFE Trip Wizard isn’t free like the other two planners, but it’s a very affordable $39 a year, especially when you consider how much it saves you in time.
Pros:
- An RV-specific tool that uses your vehicle’s measurements (height, weight, etc) so you can track expenses and plan safe routes for your rig.
- Browse from ALL campground affiliations (Passport America, KOA, etc.). No restrictions like other tools. You can also rank your memberships based on what offers the biggest discount.
- Find campgrounds along your route with integrated ratings from RV LIFE Campgrounds. The planner has over 17,000 campgrounds and resorts in their database and lists the phone number, address, amenities, and photos.
- Filter campgrounds to find ones that are pet-friendly, big-rig friendly, 55+ and over, within a price range, etc.
- You can set Driving Distances to help you limit how many miles you’re driving in a day.
- Trips have no limit on the number of stops.
- Routes can easily be exported to your GPS or sent to your Facebook, friend, e-mailed, calendar, Excel, or printed.
- Over 57,000 points of interest, including area attractions and RV services like where to find gas stations, dump stations, etc.
- Very easy to use and updated often.
Cons:
- Not free, but a very affordable $39/a year. You can try their free demo before you sign up.
- No mobile app yet (but we hear one is in the works).
- No live traffic information.
2. Furkot
Furkot is a more complex trip planner designed for cars. Furkot’s strong suit is that it integrates different sources of points of interest vs Google Maps. The trip planner has a bit of a learning curve and can be confusing if you are not used to its many features.
Furkot: Free, with integrated ratings on campgrounds from RV LIFE Campgrounds
You can easily sign up for an account by connecting your Facebook or other social media. For each trip, simply enter your specific or estimated dates along with your mode of transportation (no RV selection, but you can choose by car/motorcycle/bike/foot) and your preferred overnight accommodations including hotels, campgrounds, and apartments.
The campgrounds show ratings from RV LIFE Campgrounds much like RV LIFE Trip Wizard. However, Furkot does not allow you to filter them like RV LIFE Trip Wizard to find RV parks with hookups, within a certain price range, with specific features (like pull-thru sites), or where you can get RV club discounts.
Pros:
- Free to use
- Shows hotels, campgrounds, and apartments for overnight accommodations
- Campgrounds show integrated ratings from RV LIFE Campgrounds
- Allows you to import and export data
- Shows the current weather forecast at each stop and the time of the sunrise & sunset
- Plan routes by mode of transportation, car, motorcycle, bike, or walking
- Find restaurants, breweries/wineries/bars, coffee shops, farmers markets, grocery stores, fuel stations, and airports
- Shows points of interest including museums, parks and natural features, outdoor sports and activities, beach and water recreation, scenic byways and backroads, unpaved roads and off-road trails, events and entertainment, and more
- Set daily limits on travel time
Cons:
- Not specific to RVs
- Does not track expenses
- Does not show live traffic
- Does not allow you to filter campgrounds by price/features/amenities/etc.
- Does not show campground affiliations/discounts offered
- Steep learning curve/not as simple to use
3. Google Maps
Google Maps provides free basic directions and the option to include multiple stops, but it is not specifically designed for RVs. The app can also tell you current traffic information and the fastest routes around accidents and construction delays.
Google Maps: free, but not RV-specific
Google Maps also gives you the option to avoid highways, toll roads, and ferries. It can even help you find local public transportation in the areas you’re visiting. However, it does not show the campgrounds along your route or warn you of low clearance bridges. You also can’t use it to find points of interest like dump stations or Walmarts that allow overnight parking.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Free
- Has current traffic information
- Search for restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores and more along your route
- Shows directions for car, public transportation, walking/biking
- Street view can be very useful
Cons:
- Not RV specific
- Does not track expenses
- Does not show campground discount club affiliations
- Does not show the best campgrounds on your route
Read more about how to plan your route using RV LIFE Trip Wizard on Do It Yourself RV.
RV Trip Planning Made Simple
At RV LIFE, we know you want the freedom and memories from your own RV adventures. The problem is that planning an epic RV journey is complex and can leave you overwhelmed. We believe it should be simple. As RVers ourselves, we understand the process and our software has helped millions of RVers make their travel dreams come true.
We help you find the perfect campground and a safe route to get there. You’ll also be connected to the world's largest RV community and a host of RV-specific tools so you can journey with confidence.
RV LIFE Trip Wizard is owned by Social Knowledge, the parent company of RV LIFE. While it is part of our network, we still personally recommend the trip planning tool and use it on a regular basis.
New to this game. Was GS Trip Planner the gold standard? Now, you did have to join the GS club, yes? My take away from your article is Trip Wizard is the only show in town for RVers. $39 is not a budget buster but does it integrate Passport America or similar services?
Yes, It includes Passport America, KOA, and a whole host of others I was not familiar with. You can select which of these the map will display.. Yes you do have to be a GS member to use it.
Negative is the demo is not very useful, you have to pay the 39 to find out it really is pretty will done and not that dissimilar to GS planner. For this year, I will stay with Trip Wizard.
2nd paragraph in the article says you can integrate Passport America, KOA, etc
For bigger rigs there are several truck routing sites online.
My understanding is that Good Sam is being modified into a better system during the shutdown period starting in April. The newer system will contain many improvements based on input from GS users.and should be available later this year.